A New Orleans-styled funeral procession marched from the Haight District to the Phillip Burton Federal building yesterday, mourning the shuttering of medical marijuana dispensaries under siege from federal authorities. Photos by Luke Thomas.

A coalition of many as 200 medical cannabis community members staged a New Orleans-styled mock funeral Wednesday to protest the Obama administration’s forced shuttering of San Francisco dispensaries.

The recent closures of the Vapor Room and HopeNet are a direct result of an ongoing federal crackdown on safe access dispensaries that law enforcement authorities say are operating out of compliance with state law. The closures follow direct threats of criminal prosecutions and asset forfeitures by Northern District US Attorney Melinda Haag against the dispensaries’ landlords. Nine other San Francisco dispensaries as well as other dispensaries in the Bay Area have shuttered due to the threats.

Despite the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 by California voters which allows for the cultivation and possession of marijuana for medical use, Haag maintains she is responding to lettered complaints about the proximity of dispensaries to schools, parks and playgrounds.

“Marijuana is illegal under federal law and I felt like I had to do something to respond to those members of my community that don’t support it and don’t support the impact they believe it’s having,” Haag told KQED’s Michael Montgomery during a March 15 radio interview. “The main complaint and the main theme expressed by the people that I’ve heard from is the impact on children, so with my limited resources I decided to focus on children.”

Later in the interview, Haag says, “I don’t want to send the message that if you are more than 1000 feet from a school you will not be targeted. I don’t know that.”

Advocates argue the closures will drive medical marijuana patients to obtain their medicine from black market operators and illicit cartels. Some fear Haag is an opportunistic rogue prosecutor who is using proximity as a pretext to impose her values on medical marijuana communities.

“Clearly the problem is not that you’re too close to a school, or because you’re too big, or because you’re too little – this is a coordinated campaign by multiple federal agencies,” said Steve DeAngelo, proprietor of Harborside Health Center in Oakland. “The real problem is that we’ve created positive examples of regulated cannabis distribution that has generated taxes, and created jobs that has taken money away from the criminal underground, that has taken patients out of contact with the criminal underground, and has reduced the burden on law enforcement.”

Federal policy achieves the exact opposite, DenAngelo said, arguing Haag is acting out of compliance with Department of Justice policy. He cited recent comments made under oath by US Attorney Eric Holder to Congress in which Holder stated federal authorities would only target those medical marijuana dispensaries that operate outside of state law.

DeAngelo, who voted for Obama in 2008 and raised money for his campaign, said he is “terribly disappointed” in the president.

“From my point of view, the president has failed to keep the promise that he made to our community and that’s why we’re here now – we’re calling on him to make sure that promise is honored.”

Steve DeAngelo speaks to reporters at the beginning of the march close to the former location of the now shuttered Vapor Room.

Obama counters he cannot “nullify congressional law.”

“What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana,” Obama told Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone. “I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it’s against federal law. I can’t nullify congressional law.”

“I can’t ask the Justice Department to say, ‘Ignore completely a federal law that’s on the books.’ What I can say is, ‘Use your prosecutorial discretion and properly prioritize your resources to go after things that are really doing folks damage.’ As a consequence, there haven’t been prosecutions of users of marijuana for medical purposes,” Obama added.

Several elected officials attended a rally held outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building – where the march from the Haight District terminated – to condemn the actions of the Obama administration.

“It’s an important election year – we don’t want the Republicans to win – but somehow the Department of Justice, the IRS, and our US attorneys are harming Obama’s chances of winning,” said Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, adding, “We really need to hold the Obama administration responsible.”

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano tells rally participants Obama must be held responsible for the federal crackdown.

“If president Bush can go eight years without infringing on the rights of these patients, why is the Obama administration doing the exact opposite?” said District 9 Supervisor David Campos. “We expect better, we deserve better – and if you want to get re-elected, you better do the right thing for these patients.”

District 9 Supervisor David Campos, an openly gay man, said medical marijuana has helped patients cope with HIV Aids, cancers and other debilitating diseases.

District 5 Supervisor Christina Olague added, “We have to make sure that despite all of this, we have to find a way to make sure that the Vapor Room and HopeNet can continue to serve the medical cannabis community. I don’t know how were going to do that but we’ll figure it out in City Hall.”

District 9 appointed Supervisor Christina Olague’s message to Obama: “Enough is enough.”

John Dennis, a libertarian Republican who is running for the Eighth Congressional District seat against incumbent Nancy Pelosi in November, and who was denied an opportunity to speak at the rally in support of medical marijuana, told FCJ, “I am here to support people who want access to safe medicine. It’s that simple.”

“There are all sort of fundamental issues tied up in this,” Dennis added. “There are states rights issues, individual rights issues and property rights issues – all pushed over by federal thugs. They want to impose their values on sick people in San Francisco. It’s a disgrace.”

Republican candidate for Congress, John Dennis.

More Photos

The Brass Mafia marching band led the funeral procession from the Haight District to the Phillip Burton Federal Building.

Candidate for District 5 Supervisor Julian Davis (right) said, “San Francisco and state law has evolved unequivocally to support the rights of patients and safe access to medical cannabis. It’s appalling to see the federal government, contrary to its own stated mandate of this administration, targeting and going after the medical cannabis community this year.”

Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

5 Comments

Comments for SF Medical Marijuana Community Holds Mock Funeral for Shuttered Dispensaries are now closed.

Elizabeth Frantes

August 5, 2012 at 1:53 pm

I volunteered for John Dennis’ campaign. He told me that the rich GOPs in SF already support Pelosi because she gives them what they want. He is far more liberal than almost all the local Demoncrats, and remember that Dennis Peron is a Repub! He was denied a chance to speak, and those local politicos collecting billions in “taxes” and “fees” do nothing useful to help. If it is illegal for a bank, or landlord, to have a fiduciary relationship with a dispensary, then all moneys collected by any appointed or elected official is clearly racketeering and extortio under color of authority. QED. I am disgustedby the leaders of this “demonstration? because they support taxing the ill, and now that they are being hoist by the own petard, are crying like figure skaters.

Malcolm Kyle

August 3, 2012 at 2:43 am

An appeal to all Prohibitionists:

Most of us know that individuals who use illegal drugs are going to get high—no matter what, so why do you not prefer they acquire them in stores that check IDs and pay taxes? Gifting the market in narcotics to ruthless criminals, foreign terrorists, and corrupt law enforcement officials is seriously compromising our future.

Why do you wish to continue with a policy that has proven itself to be a poison in the veins of our once so “proud & free” nation? Even if you cannot bear the thought of people using drugs, there is absolutely nothing you, or any government, can do to stop them. We have spent 40 years and trillions of dollars on this dangerous farce; Prohibition will not suddenly and miraculously start showing different results. Do you actually believe you may personally have something to lose If we were to begin basing our drug policy on science & logic instead of ignorance, hate and lies?

Maybe you’re a police officer, a prison guard, or a local/national politician. Possibly you’re scared of losing employment, overtime pay, the many kickbacks, and those regular fat bribes. But what good will any of that do you once our society has followed Mexico over the dystopian abyss of dismembered bodies, vats of acid, and marauding thugs carrying gold-plated AK-47s with leopard-skinned gunstocks?

Kindly allow us to forgo the next level of your sycophantic prohibition-engendered mayhem.

Prohibition prevents regulation: legalize, regulate, and tax!

David Elliott Lewis

August 3, 2012 at 2:17 am

Great coverage Luke. Thank you for helping to get the word out. Silence is consent when it comes to the increasing suppression of medical cannabis. I hope to see more events like this.